Card having cash paying function and spent amount recording method

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method of producing hologram tapes corresponding to a large number of prepaid cards having different characteristic codes from one another, using one hologram master plate.  
     Hologram tapes are produced in the following manner. Namely, an elongate flat image expressing a random number in the form of a bar code is prepared. A hologram master is prepared based on the prepared flat image, and the prepared hologram master is wound around the surface of a drum  110.  The etching technique is applied, to prepare a drum-shaped hologram master plate  101  formed with micro relief corresponding to interference fringes on the surface of the drum  110.  By rotating the drum-shaped hologram master plate  101  on the surface of a long material sheet  120,  the micro relief hologram master  111  on the surface of the drum-shaped hologram master plate  101  is repeatedly transferred onto the material sheet  120.  Then, the material sheet  120  to which the micro relief hologram master  111  has been transferred is cut into hologram tapes each having a specific length.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a card having a money paymentfunction, which is called, for example, a telephone card, a prepaidcard, or the like, and to a method of recording its money consumption.Further, the present invention relates to a method of producing ahologram tape having a characteristic code. Further, the presentinvention relates to a method of managing prepaid cards, and inparticular to a method of managing prepaid cards, in which a shopcomputer reads the newest card data of a prepaid card that accesses thecomputer, and inherits a card use history of that prepaid card stored ina storage unit of a computer of the last managing shop that has managedthat prepaid card.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A conventionally used card having a money payment functiongenerally employs a magnetic recording system for recording information.One reason for employing the magnetic recording system lies in that areader can be provided cheaply, and the system can be simply introducedinto a vending machine, or the like.

[0005] On the other hand, it is inconvenient that a simpler device candecode the magnetic recording system. As a result, forgery of a cardhaving a money payment function is rampant, causing a great loss to acard issuer.

[0006] To avoid such inconvenience, there has been proposed an idea thatan optical identification member (for example, a hologram or adiffraction grating) having a specific reflection characteristic thatcan not be forged is provided in a card, this identification member isread by an optical reader to examine its authenticity, and sales of anarticle or ticket is carried out when the card is valid, as disclosed byJapanese Unexamined Patent Laid-open Nos. 3-71383 and 3-71384, forexample.

[0007] It is said that preparation itself of an identification memberutilizing a hologram or a diffraction grating is difficult. Further,even if it can be forged, a very large-scale or precious apparatus isrequired, which is quite disadvantageous from the viewpoint of costs.Thus, owing to this point, it is said that forgery of suchidentification member is more difficult than the magnetic recordingsystem.

[0008] As described above, forgery of a card can be prevented by usingan optical identification member. However, even if forgery of a card canbe prevented, rewriting of information can be carried out simply, whenthe information is still recorded by the magnetic recording system.Namely, it can be considered that, by making a punched hole in amagnetic stripe in which the information is written, the information isdestroyed and at the same time the magnetic stripe itself is damaged.When a new magnetic stripe is stuck on a magnetic stripe formed with apunched hole, information can be rewritten.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a card having amoney payment function and a method of recording money consumption thatcan solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0010] On the other hand, under the present conditions, forgery andalteration of a prepaid card are rampant without being exterminated.Now, a dozen or so years has passed from practicing of adding a hologramto a prepaid card to use as a hologram characteristic code. When ahologram is stuck to a prepaid card once, it is impossible to peel itoff without damaging it, and its forgery and alteration are verydifficult. As a result, forgery and alteration of a prepaid card addedwith a hologram are almost impossible. Further, automatic reading of ahologram is easy, similarly to a magnetically prepared characteristiccode, and information management and handling of each prepaid card canbe easily carried out.

[0011] As described above, a prepaid card added with a hologram is easyin its information management and handling, and has a largeforgery/alteration-preventing effect. On the other hand, production of ahologram having a characteristic code is not always easy. Namely,different hologram master plates should be prepared correspondingly tomany prepaid cards each having a characteristic code. Using thosedifferent hologram master plates, holograms having respectivecorresponding characteristic codes are produced. To explain this, FIG. 6is referred to. To produce a hologram master plate, a flat picture 130expressing a flat image 131 of a characteristic code is prepared first.A laser beam emitted from a laser 140 is divided into two beams by alight beam splitter 141. One beam is used as an object beam and theother as a reference beam. The flat image 131 is irradiated by bothbeams to photograph the interference fringes of the flat image 131 ontoa high resolution photographic film 142′. The photographic film 142′ isdeveloped and fixed to produce a hologram master 142. Based on theinterference fringes of this hologram master 142, a hologram masterplate is produced. A hologram is obtained by transferring thisinterference fringes of the hologram master plate onto a publicly knownconventional material sheet (Details are described in: KUBOTA,Toshihiro, “Introduction to Holography”, published by Asakura Shoten,Ltd.).

[0012] As described above, when production of hologram master plates andtransfer to material sheets are carried out correspondingly to andseparately for each of many prepaid cards, prepaid cards become tooexpensive and impractical.

[0013] Present invention provides a method of producing hologram tapeseach having a characteristic code, solving the above-mentioned problem.

[0014] Next, a conventional example of a method of managing prepaidcards will be described referring to FIG. 8.

[0015] It is known that shops join an on-line data management center 202as a party for commonly using prepaid cards, and prepaid cards issued bythis on-line data management center 202 are used commonly for each shop.In that case, many shops joining the on-line data management center 202are scattered all over the country. And, the on-line data managementcenter 202 is provided with a management center computer 220, andcarries out data management of prepaid cards, which have been publishedby member shops, for each member shop in a batch manner.

[0016] A shop A computer 211, a shop B computer 212 and a shop Ccomputer 213 illustrate shop computers of three shops out of the manycountrywide scattered member shops joining the on-line data managementcenter. The on-line data management center 202 is provided with themanagement center computer 220 that has large capacity and operates at ahigh speed. Those scattered shop computers 211-213 are connected to themanagement center computer 220 through subscriber lines 231-233 of thoseshops, a communication line 203, and a subscriber line 221 of theon-line data management center 202.

[0017] Each of the shop computer 211-213 daily publishes prepaid cardsissued by the on-line data management center, for users, records carddata to a prepaid card that accesses to the shop computer in question,and stores and manages a card use history into its own storage unit.Here, as the data, the sales data shown in FIG. 9(a) and the use datashown in FIG. 9(b) are used. Stored contents of card data are shown inFIG. 10, and stored contents of a card use history is shown in FIG. 11.A card use history consists of sales data and use data. It is assumedthat thousand card numbers are published per day, giving 0001 through9999. With respect to a card use history of an unused card published bya shop computer 211-213, only the field of the sales data is filled inthe card use history shown in FIG. 11, while the field of the use datais unfilled. As a card is used, the field of the use data in a shopcomputer is added with entries. Business data including publication ofprepaid cards and card use histories is transmitted online from eachshop computer 211-213 to the management center computer 220 through thesubscriber lines and the communication line as shown by one-dot chainlines, and is separately managed for each shop.

[0018] As described above, business data including publication ofprepaid cards and utilization states is transmitted from each shopcomputer 211-213 to the management center computer 220 through thecommunication line including the subscriber lines, and the on-line datamanagement center separately manages the data for each shop. A prepaidcard published by a shop magnetically stores the card data shown in FIG.10. A prepaid card of 5,000 yen has a balance of 5,000 yen in a statethat a card user who has purchased the card has not used the card yet.

[0019] When a card user uses a prepaid card having a balance of 5,000yen, for accessing the shop computer 211 of the shop A, to input 500yen, then, the shop A computer 211 performs calculation on the card dataof the prepaid card in question, recognizes the balance of 5,000 yen,subtracts 500 yen from the balance, and rewrites the balance to 4,500yen. Further, the shop A computer 211 enters the date of use: 06301040,the paid amount: 500, the publishing shop number: a, and the cardnumber: 001 into the fields of the use data of the card use historystored in the storage unit. It is not necessary to particularly storethe balance. When the prepaid card in question is further used by 500yen in the shop A, similar processing is carried out. Namely, thebalance 4,500 yen is recognized from the prepaid card, and the paidamount 500 yen is subtracted from that balance, and the balance of thecard data is rewritten to 4,000 yen. Further, the shop A computer 211enters the date of use: 06301100, the paid amount: 500, the publishingshop number: a, and the card number: 001 into the fields of the use dataof the card use history stored in its storage unit.

[0020] Next, when this prepaid card accesses the shop B computer 212 toinput 1,000 yen, then, the shop B computer 212 performs calculation onthe prepaid card in question, recognizes the balance 4,000 yen,subtracts the paid amount 1,000 yen from the balance, and rewrites thebalance of the card data into 3,000 yen. The shop B computer 212 storesthe card data of the concerned prepaid card, i.e., the publishing shopnumber: a, the publishing date: 06301030, the publishing value: 5,000,the balance: 3,000, the card number: 001, the paid amount: 1,000 yeninto the fields of the sales data and the use data in its own storageunit. The shop B computer 212 transmits online this card data asbusiness data to the management center computer 220. Thereafter, theprepaid card of this card number is similarly used in the shop A or shopC, until the balance becomes 0.

[0021] The management center computer 220 of the on-line data managementcenter performs online calculation on the business data transmitted fromeach shop. Since processing quantity is very large, a computer that haslarge capacity and operates at a high speed should be prepared as thecomputer 220, thus making the equipment costs of the on-line datamanagement center too expensive. When on-line processing is carried out,there arise concentration of calls to the management center computer 220of the on-line data management center 202 from the shop computers211-213, and this causes increase of communication equipment costs ofthe on-line data management center 202.

[0022] Further, a shop computer 220 is required to hold and manage carduse histories of prepaid cards published by that computer. Accordingly,a computer having somewhat larger processing capacity is required as theshop computer 220, increasing equipment costs of each shop.

[0023] The present invention provides a method of managing prepaidcards, solving the above-mentioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0024] The present invention provides a card having a money paymentfunction, wherein record elements expressing information such as anamount of money, frequency of use, and the like to be written into thecard are formed of optical identification members having a specificreflection characteristic that can not be forged, such that the numberof the formed and arranged record elements corresponds to a prepaidamount of money. Further, the present invention provides a method ofrecording money consumption, wherein mechanically damaged marks oroptically damaged marks are formed in the formed and arranged recordelements, to make those record elements unidentifiable, and to recordmoney consumption by making those mechanically damaged marks oroptically damaged marks.

[0025] According to the card having a money payment function of thepresent invention, the information such as the amount of money, thefrequency of use, and the like to be written into the card is expressedby the record elements formed of the optical identification membershaving the specific reflection characteristic that can not be forged.Accordingly, it is impossible to forge those record elements. In otherwords, not only the card itself can not be forged, but also rewriting ofthe balance, information of usable remainder recorded on this card, isentirely impossible.

[0026] Thus, according to the card and the method of recording moneyconsumption of the present invention, it is impossible to rewriteinformation recorded on the card, not to say forgery of the card.

[0027] Further, claim 4 provides: a method of producing hologram tapes,comprising steps of: preparing an elongate flat image expressing arandom number linearly in a form of a bar code; preparing a hologrammaster of the random number in the form of a bar code, based on theprepared flat image; winding the hologram master around a surface of adrum 110, and applying an etching technique to prepare a drum-shapedhologram master plate 101 formed with a micro relief corresponding tointerference fringes on the surface of the drum 110; rotating thedrum-shaped hologram master plate 101 on a surface of a long materialsheet 120, to repeatedly transfer the micro relief hologram master 111of the surface of the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 to thematerial sheet 120; and cutting the material sheet 120 to which themicro relief hologram master 111 is transferred into hologram tapes eachhaving a specific length.

[0028] Further, claim 5 provides: the method of producing hologram tapesaccording to claim 4, wherein: the material sheet 120 is cut into thehologram tapes each having the length that does not exactly divide acircumferential length of the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101.

[0029] Further, claim 6 provides: a method of producing hologram tapes,comprising steps of: preparing an elongate flat image expressing arandom number linearly in a form of a bar code; preparing a hologrammaster of the random number in the form of a bar code, based on theprepared flat image; duplicating the hologram master; winding duplicatedhologram masters around a surface of a drum 110, being shifted from oneanother in a circumferential direction, and applying an etchingtechnique to prepare a drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 formed withrows of micro relief corresponding to interference fringes on thesurface of the drum 110; rotating the drum-shaped hologram mater plate101 on a surface of a long material sheet 120, to transfer the rows ofmicro relief hologram masters 111 to the material sheet; and cutting thelong material sheet 120, to which the micro relief hologram masters 111are transferred, into hologram tapes each having a specific length.

[0030] Further, claim 7 provides: the method of producing hologram tapesaccording to claim 6, wherein: the material sheet 120 is cut into thehologram tapes each having the length that does not exactly divide acircumferential length of the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101.

[0031] Further, claim 8 provides: a hologram tape produced by the methodof producing hologram tapes according to claim 4 or 7.

[0032] Further, claim 9 provides: a prepaid card produced by cutting thehologram tape according to claim 8.

[0033] Further, claim 10 provides: a method of managing prepaid cards,in which data on a prepaid card of a shop that publishes and commonlyuses prepaid cards is transmitted to an on-line data management center202 through a communication line, and the on-line data management center202 performs data management in a batch manner for each shop, wherein: ashop computer reads card data of a prepaid card that accesses to saidshop computer, and inherits data management of a shop computer thatmanaged said prepaid card in a last time through the communication line.

[0034] Further, claim 11 provides: the method of managing prepaid cardsaccording to claim 10, wherein: a managing shop number for identifying ashop computer that manages a card use history of a prepaid card isrecorded in said prepaid card and in a storage unit of the shopcomputer.

[0035] Further, claim 12 provides: the method of managing prepaid cardsaccording to claim 11, wherein: a shop computer reads card data of aprepaid card that accesses said shop computer, updates a managing shopnumber recorded in said prepaid card into a managing shop number of saidshop computer, and deletes a card use history recorded in a last shopcomputer through the communication line.

[0036] Further, claim 13 provides: the method of managing prepaid cardsaccording to claim 12, wherein: a shop computer recognizes a managingshop number from card data of a prepaid card that accesses said shopcomputer, accesses a shop computer of a shop corresponding to a resultof recognition through the communication line, to inherit a card usehistory of said prepaid card into a storage unit of its own shop,deletes the card use history of said prepaid card from a storage unit ofthe shop computer of the recognized shop, and updates the managing shopnumber of said prepaid card to the managing shop number of its own shop.

[0037] Further, claim 14 provides: the method of managing prepaid cardsaccording to one of claims 11-13, wherein: a balance in card data of aprepaid card that accesses a shop computer is tested referring to a carduse history in a storage unit that has inherited a shop computer of alast shop in which said prepaid card was used.

[0038] Further, claim 15 provides: the method of managing prepaid cardsaccording to one of claims 10-14, wherein: a shop computer transmitsbusiness data including publishing and utilization states of prepaidcards to a management center computer once a day at a predeterminedtime.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0039]FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment according to thepresent invention.

[0040]FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a variation according to the presentinvention.

[0041]FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another variation according to thepresent invention.

[0042]FIG. 4 is a plan view showing still another variation according tothe present invention.

[0043]FIG. 5 is a view explaining an embodiment.

[0044]FIG. 6 is a view explaining a master for a hologram.

[0045]FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining an embodiment.

[0046]FIG. 8 is a diagram explaining a conventional example.

[0047]FIG. 9 is a diagram explaining sales data and use data.

[0048]FIG. 10 is a diagram explaining card data.

[0049]FIG. 11 is a diagram explaining card use history.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0050] Now, the present invention will be described in detail referringto the attached drawings.

[0051]FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a card having a money payingfunction according to the present invention. In the figure, thereference numeral 10 refers to a card. A conventional card having anyform may be used as this card 10. The reference numeral 11 refers to arecord element formed on a surface of this card 10. This record element11 is formed in a shape of, for example, about 2*3 millimeters, and suchrecord elements 11 are formed in a required number and, for example,along a long side of the card 10. The number of the formationcorresponds to the amount of money that a user paid for purchasing thecard. The record element 11 is made of an optical identification memberutilizing a hologram or a diffraction grating known in theabove-mentioned publicly known document or the like. Inside the opticalidentification member, is illustrated a pattern, a symbol, or the likefor identifying the authorized card. This pattern or symbol foridentification is read by an optical reading means, to judge if the cardis an authorized one or not.

[0052] Further, as the optical identification member, may be used anoptical record medium for a compact disk called such as CD, or anoptical record medium for a write once disk called WORM. When suchoptical record medium is used, each record element 11 is written inadvance with an ID number for identification of a true card or an amountof money assigned to each record element 11 according to the order ofits position.

[0053] This embodiment is described assuming a prepaid card used in apinball house as one embodiment of a mode of using the card. In apinball house, balls for one game are generally rented for 500 yen.Accordingly, one record element 11 corresponds to the rental value ofone-game balls. Several kinds of cards 10 including, for example, a10,000 yen card, a 5,000 yen card, a 3,000 yen card, etc. are prepared.Thus, each card is formed with record elements 11, the number of whichcorresponds to the value of the card. In the example shown in FIG. 1,twenty record elements 11 are formed in a 10,000 yen card. FIG. 2 showsa 5,000 yen card formed with ten record elements 11. Along the line ofthe record elements 11, the numbers 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10 are added forexpressing remaining amounts of money. For example, the number 2.5expresses 2,500 yen. The card 10 is provided with a conventionalmagnetic stripe 12. The magnetic stripe 12 records the selling date, anidentification number expressing the shop that sold the card, and thelike.

[0054] In the method of recording money consumption according to thepresent invention, the record elements 11 are formed of identificationmembers, such as holograms, diffraction gratings, or optical recordmedia, having the specific reflection characteristic that can beidentified by an optical identification means, and a mechanicallydamaged mark or an optically damaged mark 13 is formed in a recordelement 11 to make the record element 11 unidentifiable. In the examplesshown in FIGS. 1 and 2, mechanically damaged marks are applied using apunched hole as a mechanically damaged mark 13. When the size of apunched hole is decided to have a diameter that can remove a mainidentification part of the shape of the record element 11, the recordelement 11 can be damaged into an unidentifiable state. In the shownexamples, mechanically damaged marks 13 are formed from the side of thehighest value of the numbers expressing the remaining amounts of money,according to money consumption, so that the indicated value of theremaining amount can be directly read. Here, as another method ofdamaging the record element 11, the record element 11 may be shaved off.

[0055] When the optical record medium is used, a laser beam or the likeis used to optically damage the record element 11. When an opticallydamaged mark can not be observed visually, a punched hole may beprovided in an upper position so that the remaining amount can bedirectly read.

[0056]FIG. 3 shows another embodiment according to the presentinvention. In this embodiment, a plurality of lines of record elements11 are provided, and amount of money for each record element has adifferent value for each line. For example, when 500 yen is allotted toeach record element in the line A, 100 yen in the line B, and 10 yen inthe line C, it is possible to pay a fraction in 10 yen. As a result, itcan be considered that the card is used as a telephone card or as a cardfor purchasing a passenger ticket.

[0057] In the above embodiments, the record elements 11 are separatelyformed one by one. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the record elements 11may be formed continuously. In this case, each part of the recordelement 11 may be enclosed by a frame by printing, to distinguish eachrecord element 11.

[0058] Next, will be described one of the best modes of the method ofproducing a hologram tape according to the present invention.

[0059]FIG. 5(a) is a view explaining production of a hologram tape byapplying a drum-shaped hologram master plate to a hologram materialsheet, and FIG. 5(b) is a view showing a cross section of the hologramtape.

[0060] To produce the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101, atape-shaped elongate flat image expressing a characteristic code ismade, similarly to the conventional examples. This flat image uses arandom number as the characteristic code and expresses it linearly inthe form of a bar code. Then, a laser beam is divided into two beams, touse one as an object beam and the other as a reference beam. Both beamsare applied to the linearly-expressed flat image in the bar code form,to photograph it in the form of interference fringes into non-exposedhigh resolution photographic film. Then, the film is subject to adeveloping process, to produce a hologram master having a random numbercharacteristic code in the form of a bar code. Based on the interferencefringes of the hologram master, the drum-shaped hologram master plate101 of the present invention is formed on its surface with micro reliefcorresponding to the interference fringes. In the following, will bedescribed a method of forming the extremely fine relief, whichcorresponds to the interference fringes of the hologram master, on thesurface of a drum 110.

[0061] A drum 110 having a perfect circle cross section is prepared, andhigh resolution sensitive emulsion film is formed by deposition all overthe surface of the drum 110. Next, the surface of this drum 110 is woundwith the tape-shaped elongate hologram master that has been preparedpreviously. Then, the sensitive emulsion film is exposed through thishologram master, to print the interference fringes of the hologrammaster. Then, the surface of the drum that has been printed with theinterference fringes of the hologram master is etched to produce thedrum-shaped hologram master plate 110. The drum-shaped hologram masterplate 101 is designed and produced such that the circumferential lengthof the surface of the drum 110 is equal to the total length of thehologram master. As a result, the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101is formed with the random number characteristic code in the form of agapless bar code along the circumferential direction.

[0062] Now, a method of producing a hologram tape will be described.

[0063] For producing a hologram tape, a long material sheet 120 isprepared. The material sheet 120 comprises a bottom layer of peel-offpaper 121, an adhesive layer 122 formed on the upper surface of thepeel-off paper 121, a reflective film 123 formed by vapor deposition onthe upper surface of the adhesive layer 122, and an emboss film 124formed by vapor deposition on the upper surface of the reflective film123. Each the reflective film 123 and emboss film 124 is formed as athin film by deposition of metallic material or metallic oxide material,and has sufficient optical transparency. Further, a topcoat 125 and acarrier 126 are formed later to protect the emboss film 124.

[0064] The surface of the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 isformed with the micro relief hologram master 111. Accordingly, byrotating the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 on the surface of thelong material sheet 120, the micro relief hologram master 111 isembossed and transferred to the emboss film 124 of the material sheet120, forming the random number characteristic code in the form of agapless bar code. The micro relief hologram master 111 on the surface ofthe drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 is repeatedly transferred tothe long material sheet 120 to the end of the sheet length. Here, thetopcoat 125 and the carrier 126 are formed after the transfer.

[0065] According to the present invention, when the material sheet 120are cut into tapes of the specific length that does not exactly dividethe circumferential length of the drum-shaped hologram master plate, onehologram master plate can produce many hologram tapes each havingdifferent characteristic code. In the following, description will begiven employing numerical examples.

[0066] It is assumed that the circumferential length of the drum-shapedhologram master plate 101 is 80 cm, and the specific length of ahologram tape to attach to a prepaid card is 7 cm. Namely, in relationto the circumferential length of 80 cm of the drum-shaped hologrammaster plate 101, the material sheet 120 is cut into pieces of thespecific length of 7 cm that does not exactly divide 80 cm. When thedrum-shaped hologram master plate 101 having the circumferential lengthof 80 cm makes one rotation, the material sheet 120 of 80 cm is formed,which can not be exactly divided by 7 cm. Noting the boundary betweenthe end of the first rotation of the drum-shaped hologram master plate101 and the starting end of its second rotation, the material sheet 120of 80 cm formed by the first rotation is short by 4 cm for taking 12pieces of hologram tapes of 7 cm from the material sheet 120 by cuttingit. However, going up to 4 cm into the material sheet 120 of 80 cmformed by the second successive rotation, 12 pieces of hologram tapescan be obtained. With respect to the material sheet 120 formed by thesecond rotation, the first hologram tape is cut, with its starting pointbeing spaced 4 cm apart from the starting end of the second rotation.Since this first hologram tape of 7 cm, whose cutting is measured fromthe position spaced 4 cm apart from the starting end of the secondrotation, is different in its starting point from the first hologramtape that is cut from the material sheet 120 formed by the firstrotation, those tapes have different characteristic codes from eachother. With respect to the material sheet 120 formed by third rotation,the first hologram tape is cut with its starting point being spaced 8 cmapart from the starting end of the third rotation. Thus, the origin ofthe cutting is spaced 8 cm apart from the starting end, and isdifferent, of course, from the starting end itself and from the pointspaced 4 cm apart from the starting point. Accordingly, the firsthologram tape obtained from the material sheet 120 formed by the thirdrotation has different characteristic code from both the previouslymentioned first hologram tapes, also. After this and up to the materialsheet 120 formed by the 20th rotation, the origin of cutting of a firsthologram tape is different from any of the previous first hologramtapes, and accordingly, its characteristic code also is different fromthe characteristic codes of those previous tapes. Also, with respect tosecond hologram tapes, their starting points are different from oneanother, and accordingly, every second hologram tape has a differentcharacteristic code from the others. The same can be said with respectto third and following hologram tapes. In this example, when thedrum-shaped hologram master plate 101 is rotated twenty times, theinitial state of ration is restored, which means that one drum-shapedhologram master plate 101 is used equivalently to twenty differentdrum-shaped hologram master plates. After all, this embodiment obtains240 hologram tapes of 7 cm, each having a different characteristic codefrom the others.

[0067] In the above embodiment, only one tape-shaped elongate hologrammaster is wound around the surface of the drum 110, to produce thedrum-shaped hologram master plate 101 formed with a row of micro reliefhologram master. Here, when a tape-shaped elongate hologram master isduplicated, and rows of duplicated hologram masters are wound around thesurface of the drum 110 parallel to each other, being shifted from oneanother in the circumferential direction, a drum-shaped hologram masterplate 101 formed with rows of micro relief hologram masters is produced.By winding a micro relief hologram master consisting of a plurality ofsame hologram masters circumferentially shifted from each other aroundthe surface of the drum 110, by applying the etching technology toproduce the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 formed with rows ofmicro reliefs corresponding to interference fringes, and by rotatingthis drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 on the surface of a longmaterial sheet 120, rows of different micro relief hologram masters 111are embossed and transferred to the emboss film 124 of the materialsheet 120, forming random number characteristic codes in the form ofgapless bar codes. The micro relief hologram master 111 on the surfaceof the drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 is repeatedly transferredto the long material sheet 120 to the end of the sheet length.

[0068] As described above, many pieces of hologram tapes can be producedat once by preparing a row of a tape-shaped elongate flat imageexpressing a characteristic code, by making a row of hologram masterbased on this image, by duplicating this hologram master, by producingthe drum-shaped hologram master plate 101 formed with rows of microrelief hologram masters on its surface, by using this hologram masterplate 101 to transfer the micro relief hologram masters onto the longmaterial sheet 120, and by cutting this long material sheet 120 intopieces of the specific length. Further, by cutting the hologram materialsheet, which has been produced by one hologram master plate, into pieceseach having the specific length required for a prepaid card, hologramtapes that have different characteristic codes from one another andcorrespond to many prepaid cards can be produced.

[0069] Next, one of the best modes of the method of managing prepaidcards according to the present invention will be described referring toFIG. 7. In this embodiment, members common to the conventional examplehave common reference numerals.

[0070] In the conventional example, shop computers 211-213 of respectiveshops each perform data exchange with the management center computer 220of the on-line data management center 202, being connected through thecommunication line 203. However, the shops have no relation to oneanother, and each shop is independent not performing data exchange withthe other shops. On the other hand, according to the present invention,the shop computer 211-213 of each shop not only performs data exchangewith the management center computer 220 of the on-line data managementcenter 202 being connected through the communication line 203, but alsoperforms data exchange with one another between the shops, as shown byone-dot chain lines.

[0071] Each of the shop computers 211-213 daily publishes prepaid cardsissued by the on-line data management center 202, records card data ontoa prepaid card used by accessing the computer, and stores and manages ause history of this prepaid card in a storage unit provided to thecomputer. Business data including publication and utilization states ofprepaid cards is sent by each shop computer 211-213 to the managementcenter computer 220 of the on-line data management center 202 throughthe communication line 203, once a day at a predetermined time. Themanagement center computer 220 calculates and aggregates the data toobtain accurate total sales for each shop.

[0072] In this embodiment, a prepaid card is provided with a managingshop number in the form of magnetic data, in addition to theabove-mentioned card data. This managing shop number indicates a shopcomputer of a shop in which the prepaid card is used in the last,meaning that prepaid card is managed by the shop of the managing shopnumber. In publishing a prepaid card, each shop records a managing shopnumber in the form of magnetic data into the prepaid card published.

[0073] When a 5,000 yen prepaid card is published and recorded with theabove-mentioned card data by the shop A, the managing shop number a ofthe A shop is recorded in the card. In a state that a card user whopurchased the card has not used the card, the unused balance is 5,000yen. The use history of this card is recorded in a storage unit of theshop A computer 211.

[0074] When the card user accesses the shop A computer 211 using theprepaid card having the balance of 5,000 yen, to input 500 yen, then,the shop A computer 211 reads the card data of that prepaid card torecognize the managing shop number a. Thus, the shop A computer 211recognizes that the shop A manages the prepaid card in question. Then,the shop A computer 211 performs calculation of that prepaid card, readsthe balance from the card data, and, at the same time, refers to thebalance held in the card use history in the storage unit of the shop A,which is the managing shop of that prepaid card, through thecommunication line, to test the balance of the prepaid card. The resultof the test is valid, and then, the recognized balance 5,000 yen iscompared with the input amount 500 yen, to find that the balance islarger than the input amount. Then, the balance 4,500 yen obtained bysubtracting the paid amount 500 yen is recorded into the prepaid card inquestion. The shop A computer 211 rewrite the balance of that prepaidcard from 5,000 yen to 4,500 yen, and adds use data of the paid amount500 yen to the card use history in the storage unit of the shop Acomputer 211. When that prepaid card is further used for inputting 500yen at the shop A, the shop A computer 211 performs the similaroperation, further adds the use data of the paid amount 500 yen of thistime to the card use history, and rewrites the balance of the prepaidcard to 4,000 yen.

[0075] When the above-mentioned prepaid card is used for accessing theshop computer 212 of the shop B to input 1,000 yen, then, the shop Bcomputer 212 reads the card data of the prepaid card, recognizes themanaging shop number a, and recognizes that the shop A has managed theprepaid card immediately before. Based on this recognition result, theshop B computer 212 accesses the shop computer 211 of the shop A, whichhas managed the prepaid card immediately before, through thecommunication line, to inherit the card use history of that prepaidcard, and to update the managing shop number a into the managing shopnumber b of its own. By this inheriting, the data on the prepaid card inquestion is entirely deleted from the storage unit of the shop computer211 of the shop A. Similarly to the above, the shop B computer 212performs calculation on the prepaid card in question, reads the balance,and refers to the card use history in the storage unit that inherits thedata from the shop A, to test the balance of the prepaid card. Theresult of the test is valid, and the recognized balance is 4, 000 yen,from which the paid amount 1, 000 yen is subtracted. The use data of thepaid amount 1,000 of this time is added to the card use history in thestorage unit of the shop B computer 212, and the balance of this prepaidcard is rewritten to 3,000 yen. Thereafter, the prepaid card of thiscard number is similarly used in the shop A or shop C, until the balancebecomes 0.

[0076] An altered prepaid card may be used, by rewriting the balanceheld in the card data. In that case, when that prepaid accesses a shopcomputer, the balance of that prepaid card is first tested by referringto the use data in the card use history stored in the storage unit thathas inherited the data from the last shop where the card has been used,including the storage unit of the shop that published that prepaid card.Based on the test result, forgery by rewriting of the balance can beexposed.

[0077] Symbols used in the drawings are listed as follows.

[0078]10 card

[0079]11 record element

[0080]12 magnetic stripe

[0081]13 mechanically damaged mark

[0082]101 drum-shaped hologram master plate

[0083]110 drum

[0084]111 micro relief hologram master

[0085]120 material sheet

[0086]121 peel-off paper

[0087]122 adhesive layer

[0088]123 reflective film

[0089]124 emboss film

[0090]125 topcoat

[0091]126 carrier

[0092]130 flat picture

[0093]131 flat image

[0094]140 laser

[0095]141 light beam splitter

[0096]142 hologram master

[0097]142′photographic film

[0098]202 on-line data management center

[0099]203 communication line

[0100]211 shop A computer

[0101]212 shop B computer

[0102]213 shop C computer

[0103]220 management center computer

[0104]221 management center subscriber line

[0105]231 shop A subscriber line

[0106]232 shop B subscriber line

[0107]233 shop C subscriber line

Industrial Applicability

[0108] As described above, according to the card having a money paymentfunction and the method of recording money consumption of the presentinvention, the record elements 11 for recording the amount of money areeach made of an identification member that can be hardly forged such asa hologram or a diffraction grating. Accordingly, to say nothing offorgery of the card, rewriting of information is entirely impossible.Thus, the present invention largely contributes to support the socialorder.

[0109] Further, according to the method of producing a hologram tapehaving a characteristic code of the present invention, it is possible toproduce a long hologram material sheet without a gap, to which a microrelief hologram master is transferred. Thus, waste discard of an unusedhologram part can be omitted, decreasing production costs of hologramtapes. Further, by cutting the hologram material sheet produced by onehologram master plate into pieces each having the specific lengthrequired for a prepaid card, hologram tapes that have differentcharacteristic codes from one another and correspond to many prepaidcards can be produced.

[0110] Further, according to the method of managing prepaid cards of thepresent invention, business data including publishing and utilizationstates of prepaid cards is transmitted from each shop computer to themanagement center computer through its subscriber line, thecommunication line, and the subscriber line of the on-line datamanagement center, once a day at a predetermined time. The managementcenter computer calculates and aggregates the transmitted data, toobtain accurate total sales for each shop. In other words, themanagement center computer performs mainly batch processing, andquantity of on-line processing becomes smaller. Thus, as the managementcenter computer, may be used a computer having smaller performance, andequipment costs of the entire on-line data management center can besuppressed to be smaller.

[0111] Further, quantity of on-line processing of other business datatransmitted from each shop computer to the management center computerbecomes smaller, and thus telephone communication costs between a shopand the on-line data management center can be reduced.

[0112] Further, data exchange at the time of processing usual use of aprepaid card is performed inside a shop or between shops, withoutperforming data exchange with the on-line data management center. Thus,it is possible to avoid concentration of calls to the on-line datamanagement center. This can largely reduce communication equipment costsfor the on-line data management center.

[0113] Further, a card use history of a prepaid card is inherited to ashop computer to which that prepaid card accesses. As a result, dataexchange between shops does not concentrate in a shop computer of aspecific shop, and thus, equipment costs of each shop can be suppressedto a lower level.

[0114] Further, when a prepaid card accesses a shop computer, the carduse history of that prepaid card is inherited from the shop computer ofthe shop in which the prepaid card has been used in the last. This carduse history is referred to, for testing the card use history of theconcerned prepaid card itself. As a result, forgery by rewriting of thebalance can be exposed.

DRAWINGS

[0115]FIG. 1

[0116]10 Card

[0117]12 Magnetic stripe

[0118]11 Record element

[0119]13 Mechanically damaged mark

[0120]FIG. 2

[0121]12 Magnetic stripe

[0122]11 Record element

[0123]13 Mechanically damaged mark

[0124]FIG. 3

[0125]10 Card

[0126]12 Magnetic stripe

[0127]11 Record element

[0128]FIG. 4

[0129]10 Card

[0130]12 Magnetic stripe

[0131]11 Record element

[0132]13 Mechanically damaged mark

[0133]FIG. 5

[0134]101 Drum-shaped hologram master plate

[0135]110 Drum

[0136]111 Micro relief hologram master

[0137]120 Material sheet

[0138]124 Emboss film

[0139]123 Reflective film

[0140]122 Adhesive layer

[0141]121 Peel-off paper

[0142]126 Carrier

[0143]125 Topcoat

[0144]124 Emboss film

[0145]123 Reflective film

[0146]122 Adhesive layer

[0147]121 Peel-off paper

[0148]FIG. 6

[0149]140 Laser

[0150]141 Light beam splitter

[0151]142′Photographic film

[0152]142 Hologram master

[0153]131 Flat image

[0154]130 Flat picture

[0155]FIG. 7

[0156]202 On-line data management center

[0157]203 Communication line

[0158]211 Shop A computer

[0159]212 Shop B computer

[0160]213 Shop C computer

[0161]220 Management center computer

[0162]221 Management center subscriber line

[0163]231 Shop A subscriber line

[0164]232 Shop B subscriber line

[0165]233 Shop C subscriber line

[0166]FIG. 8

[0167]202 On-line data management center

[0168]203 Communication line

[0169]211 Shop A computer

[0170]212 Shop B computer

[0171]213 Shop C computer

[0172]220 Management center computer

[0173]221 Management center subscriber line

[0174]231 Shop A subscriber line

[0175]232 Shop B subscriber line

[0176]233 Shop C subscriber line

[0177]FIG. 9

[0178] Sales data

[0179] Publishing date

[0180] Published value

[0181] Publishing shop number

[0182] Card number

[0183] Use data

[0184] Date of use

[0185] Paid amount

[0186] Publishing shop number

[0187] Card number

[0188] Managing shop number

[0189]FIG. 10

[0190] Card data

[0191] Publishing shop number

[0192] Publishing date

[0193] Published value

[0194] Balance

[0195] Card number

[0196] Managing shop number

[0197]FIG. 11

[0198] Card use history

[0199] Sales data

[0200] Publishing date

[0201] Publishing value

[0202] Publishing shop number

[0203] Card number

[0204] Use data

[0205] Date of use

[0206] Paid amount

[0207] Publishing shop number

[0208] Card number

[0209] Managing shop number

[0210] Publishing shop number

[0211] Card number

[0212] Date of use

[0213] Paid amount

[0214] Managing shop number

[0215] Publishing shop number

[0216] Card number

[0217] Date of use

[0218] Paid amount

[0219] Managing shop number

What is Claimed Is:
 1. A card having a money payment function in which amoney consumption is deleted from an amount of money recorded in thecard, instead of cash payment, wherein: record elements, whose numbercorresponds to the amount of money, are each formed of an identificationmember having a specific reflection characteristic that can beidentified by an optical identification means.
 2. The card having amoney payment function according to claim 1, wherein: a plurality ofrecord elements having different values per one element are formed andarranged.
 3. The card having a money payment function according to claim1 or 2, wherein: mechanically damaged marks or optically damaged marksare formed in record elements whose number corresponds to an amount ofconsumption, such that formation of those mechanically damaged marks oroptically damaged marks makes identification impossible, to record theamount of consumption.
 4. A method of producing hologram tapes,comprising steps of: preparing an elongate flat image expressing arandom number linearly in a form of a bar code; preparing a hologrammaster of the random number in the form of a bar code, based on theprepared flat image; winding the hologram master around a surface of adrum, and applying an etching technique to prepare a drum-shapedhologram master plate formed with a micro relief corresponding tointerference fringes on the surface of the drum; rotating thedrum-shaped hologram master plate on a surface of a long material sheet,to repeatedly transfer the micro relief hologram master of the surfaceof the drum-shaped hologram master plate to the material sheet; andcutting the material sheet to which the micro relief hologram master istransferred into hologram tapes each having a specific length.
 5. Themethod of producing hologram tapes according to claim 4, wherein: thematerial sheet is cut into the hologram tapes each having the lengththat does not exactly divide a circumferential length of the drum-shapedhologram master plate.
 6. A method of producing hologram tapes,comprising steps of: preparing an elongate flat image expressing arandom number linearly in a form of a bar code; preparing a hologrammaster of the random number in the form of a bar code, based on theprepared flat image; duplicating the hologram master; winding duplicatedhologram masters around a surface of a drum, being shifted from oneanother in a circumferential direction, and applying an etchingtechnique to prepare a drum-shaped hologram master plate formed withrows of micro relief corresponding to interference fringes on thesurface of the drum; rotating the drum-shaped hologram mater plate on asurface of a long material sheet, to transfer the rows of micro reliefhologram masters to the material sheet; and cutting the long materialsheet, to which the micro relief hologram masters are transferred, intohologram tapes each having a specific length.
 7. The method of producinghologram tapes according to claim 6, wherein: the material sheet is cutinto the hologram tapes each having the length that does not exactlydivide a circumferential length of the drum-shaped hologram masterplate.
 8. A hologram tape produced by the method of producing hologramtapes according to claim 4 or
 7. 9. A prepaid card produced by cuttingthe hologram tape according to claim
 8. 10. A method of managing prepaidcards, in which data on a prepaid card of a shop that publishes andcommonly uses prepaid cards is transmitted to an on-line data managementcenter through a communication line, and the on-line data managementcenter performs data management in a batch manner for each shop,wherein: a shop computer reads card data of a prepaid card that accessesto said shop computer, and inherits data management of a shop computerthat managed said prepaid card in a last time through the communicationline.
 11. The method of managing prepaid cards according to claim 10,wherein: a managing shop number for identifying a shop computer thatmanages a card use history of a prepaid card is recorded in said prepaidcard and in a storage unit of the shop computer.
 12. The method ofmanaging prepaid cards according to claim 11, wherein: a shop computerreads card data of a prepaid card that accesses said shop computer,updates a managing shop number recorded in said prepaid card into amanaging shop number of said shop computer, and deletes a card usehistory recorded in a last shop computer through the communication line.13. The method of managing prepaid cards according to claim 12, wherein:a shop computer recognizes a managing shop number from card data of aprepaid card that accesses said shop computer, accesses a shop computerof a shop corresponding to a result of recognition through thecommunication line, to inherit a card use history of said prepaid cardinto a storage unit of its own shop, deletes the card use history ofsaid prepaid card from a storage unit of the shop computer of therecognized shop, and updates the managing shop number of said prepaidcard to the managing shop number of its own shop.
 14. The method ofmanaging prepaid cards according to one of claims 11-13, wherein: abalance in card data of a prepaid card that accesses a shop computer istested referring to a card use history in a storage unit that hasinherited a shop computer of a last shop in which said prepaid card wasused.
 15. The method of managing prepaid cards according to one ofclaims 10-14, wherein: a shop computer transmits business data includingpublishing and utilization states of prepaid cards to a managementcenter computer once a day at a predetermined time.